It was hard to say goodbye to this wonderful little girl. We got to spend lots of time with her over this past week-end. I happily changed poopy diapers and enjoyed spending really good times with her. Yesterday, before we came over to say good-bye, she was asking about Amma and Papa. So nice that she has names for us and gives us hugs when we show up.

I am really tired. It was very smoky in Grants Pass where we spent the night. I had itchy eyes, lost my voice and generally felt miserable and didn’t sleep very well. It was good to drive out of the smoke this morning.

On Wednesday, we decided not to drive all the way to Sonoma; instead, we drove to Muir Woods in Marin County and had a nice hike. I love being in the redwoods. The smells and the oxygen generated by the photosynthesis are wonderful memories for me.

Here are some photos from our day.

We did the hillside hike and so I was glad that I wore my sturdy walking shoes.

We drove past a huge stand of eucalyptus trees and I wanted to stop and pick up some leaves for natural dyeing — but not for me, for Judy Carpenter, who has been doing some beautiful dyeing with plants. There are some eucalyptus leaves that leave a red imprint. Unfortunately, we were on a narrow road with no place to pull off.

One more gratuitous photo of the adorable grandchild:

I will post more about our week, tomorrow. For now, I need to call it a day.